Apparatus for the liquid-treatment of fine filamentous thread



Nov. 16, 1937. '6, A, HUTTINGER 2,099,338

APPARATUS FOR THE LIQUID TREATMENT OF FINE FILAMENTOUS THREAD Original Filed May 5, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet l T Nov. 16, 1937. c, Aj HUTTNGER 2,099,338

APPARATUS FOR THE LIQUID TREATMENT OF FINE FILAMENTOUS THREAD Original Filed May 5, 1934 Sheets-Sheet 2 l ll 1 4 II I I l l j ll l l l lll ll 53 3 g g 1 5 30 31 :1 T? i w 45 30 9F i"? i g g 19 7 CHARM; A. Harv/v? Nov. 16, 1937. c. A. HUTTINGER 9 APPARATUS FOR THE LIQUID TREATMENT OF FINE FILAMENTOUS THREAD Original Filed May 5, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet s 555% $5;- 1:; lu sg 3 Nov.'16, 1937. c. A. HUTTINGER 2,099,338 APPARATUS FOR THE LIQUID TREATMENT OF FINE FILAMENTOUS THREAD Original Filed May 5, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 48 6//A/?L5 A. Horn/v6;

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APPARATUS FOR THE LIQUID TREATMENT OF FINE FILAMENTOUS THREAD Original Filed May 5, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet '5 Gaza .55 A. flaw/mam R g Patented Nov. 16, 1937 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR THE LIQUID-TREATMENT OF FINE FILAMENTOUS THREAD Charles A. Huttinger, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to Acme Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Original application May 5, 1934, Serial No. 724,113. Divided and this application April 7, 1936, Serial No. 73,144

4 Claims.

The subject matter of this application has been divided out of my pending application, Serial No. 724,113, Processes of, and apparatus for, treating fine filamentous thread, filed May 5, 1934.

In said application, Serial No. 724,113, I show, describe, and claim improved methods and apparatus for treating rayon in package form, such as cakes, wound spools, wound bobbins, and other tubular packages of symmetrical or balanced formation. These rayon packages are treated by the methods and apparatus of said application, Serial No. 724,113, after the rayon thread has been collected in such package forms by spinning machines from the precipitating bath in which the rayon filaments are set up. The rayon thread as so collected comprises a comparatively large number of filaments which are twisted as some forms of packages are being collected and are collected untwisted in other forms of packages. The treatments to which the rayon packages are subjected by the processes and apparatus of said application, Serial No. 724,113, are those to which the rayon is necessarily subjected, before the precipitated and package-collected thread can be considered a final product ready for the market, such as various water washings, desulphurizing, bleaching, oiling, sizing, dyeing, drying, and other purifying and finishing operations.

Primarily, the processes and apparatus of said application, Serial No. 724,113, provide for loosening up the package, when treating the same in its initial collected form, so that all parts of the package may exercise their respective natural scopes of free play, relative to other parts of the package, thus effecting a natural alteration of the relative positions of all the thread strands comprising the package. Essentially, the improved process consists in pulsating the package body by means of a treating liquid on the openings of a perforated insert upon which the package is mounted and while the latter is free to move a predetermined extent in, and under the pressure of, the treating liquid. The package is so mounted that different portions thereof move or pulsate differently under the action of the treating liquid; specifically, spaced transverse portions of the package reactv differently than the package portions intermediate such spaced transverse portions. The rayon packages which are illustrated in said application, Serial No. 724,113, the liquid treatment of which is shown, described and claimed in said application, are of symmetrical annular formation having inner and outer side surfaces or faces, and end faces. By the processes of said application, the treating liquid may be periodically reversed in direction of flow and thus be caused to pass alternately in both directions through the package bodies from inside out and outside in, or at least the treating liquid penetrates the package body and tends to pass therethrough alternately in both directions. The treating liquid is passed through the package body under any desirable practicable pressure so as thereby to control to an extent the character of the treatment and the character and amount of package movement and pulsation, and the pressure may be maintained uniform or may be varied. Although the range of practicable pressures is considerable, particularly because of the different effects of different treating liquids, a nominal pressure of from one to two pounds is preferably used when working the processes of said application, Serial No. 724,113. The liquid pressures within the practicable pressure range are not great enough to materially expand or compress the split inserts upon which the cake packages are mounted, so that these inserts provide a substantially rigid support of constant dimensions during the liquid treatments. Furthermore, the inserts are tightly clamped together in a vertical tier, during the liquid treatment, with a rayon package mounted upon each insert, in the illustrative forms of apparatus shown and described in said application, Serial No. 724,113.

It is well understood by those skilled in the art that rayon packages of the character mentioned are spun so that the strands thereof substantially prevent any enlargement of the package perimeter, so that the pressure of the treating liquid from within the package outwardly, under any pressures practicably usable, does not bulge or deform the package outwardly so as to increase its perimeter to any material extent; however, those transverse portions of the package which are not moved inwardly by liquid passed inwardly of the package body are adjusted somewhat outwardly during the treatment with inwardlymoving liquid.

A part of the apparatus shown and described in said application, Serial No. 724,113, consists of a treating tank in which a plurality of rayon packages can be assembled in a plurality of lengthwise tiers, each package, in the form of apparatus shown in said application, being mounted upon an inner support or insert. During the liquid treatment there is circulated in this treating tank the desired treating solution which is caused to pass through the assembled package bodies, and the flow of which is alternately reversed in direction so as to pass the liquid through said package bodies from without inwardly and then from within outwardly. The apparatus of this application, Serial No. 724,113, also comprises a fixed base upon which the treating tank is supported during the liquid-treating operations, and this fixed base is formed with a manifold or distributer for the treating liquid by means of which the treating liquid can be fed to the respective tiers of packages so as to pass outwardly through the thread thereof and then be conducted back to the distributer from the chamber of the treating tank exteriorly of the package bodies, and also by means of which the treating liquid can be conducted to the treating tank chamber exteriorly of the package bodies and thence through the thread thereof inwardly and thence back to the distributer from the interiors of the respective tiers of packages. Means are also shown in said application, Serial No. 724,113, for conducting the treating liquid from a suitable source of supply into the distributer for distribution to the desired respective areas of the treating tank; and means for conveying the treating liquid away from the distributer after the same has been returned from the treating tank to the distributer. These means are capable of feeding the treating liquid to the distributer and conveying the'same away therefrom so as to effect the passage of the treating liquid either through the package body from within outwardly or from without inwardly.

The treating tank, the fixed base, the distributer or manifold, the pipes for conveying the treating liquid 'to and from the distributer, and the necessary ports or other communicating channels for providing proper liquid flow between the several elements, form the subject matter of this divisional application.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain means exemplifying myimproved apparatus for the liquid treating of fine filamentous thread, such drawings and description disclosing, however, only a few of the various forms of apparatus in which the principle of my improvements may be embodied.

'In said annexed drawings:

Figure 1 is an end view of a single unit for effecting liquid treatment of a plurality of rayon packages contained in a treatment tank, in accordance with the processes described and claimed in my application, Serial No. 724,113, this view disclosing the apparatus forming the subject matter of the instant application;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, taken through the treating tank shown in Figure 1 and the fixed base upon which the'tank is mounted, the planes of section being indicated by the line 2+2, Figures 1, 4, and 5;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section through the lower part of the treatment tank, and through the fixed base upon which the tank is mounted, the section being taken in the planes indicated by the line 3-3, Figures 1, 4, and 5; V

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section, taken in the plane indicated by the line 4-4, Figures 2, 3, and '7;

which the gasket assumes when the treatment tank is not supported upon the base;

Figure 7 is a plan section, taken on the planes indicated by the line 1-1, Figures 1, 2, and 4;

Figure 8 is a plan section, taken on the planes indicated by the lines 8-8, Figures 1, 2, and 4;

Figure 9 is a plan view of the fixed base for the treatment tank, the view being taken from the plane indicated by the line 9-9,-Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5;

FigurelO is an enlarged vertical section of a fragmentary portion of the treatment tank, showing one lengthwise tier of rayon cakes mounted therein, the view being taken in the planes indicated by the line Ill-ii), Figures 7 and 8;

Figure llis a plan section of one of the rayon cakes and a contained rodand-band rubbercovered support or insert, the plane of section being indicated by the line I i-i 4, Figure 10, and the cake being'shown in that shape in which it is spun, or, if it has been deformed inwardly by previous liquid treatment, in which it tends to reestablish itself, when the pressure of the treating liquid is from the inside of the cake toward the outside;

Figure 12 is a view similar toFigure 11, but indicating the shapes and positions which the cake and its constituent portions assume, or tend to assume, when the liquid pressure is from the outside of the cake toward the inside; and

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the rod-andband insert or support contained within the cake shown in the preceding three views.

'Referring to the annexed drawings in which the same parts are indicated by the same respective numbers in the several views, I construct a fixed base 2 upon a working floor I, upon which a treatment tank 3 may be mounted for the liquid treating of a plurality of rayon packages 6. The tank 3 is providedwith a cover 3' and is formed with a base portion 3 having an outwardly-extended flange 3 which registers within the space defined by upwardly-extended and outwardlycurved spaced clips 2' secured to a block 60 supported by the fixed base 2, Figure 1. The treatment tank 3 is thus adapted to be rested by its base portion 3 upon the fixed base 2 in a predetermined position for effecting a liquid-treating operation upon the rayon packages 6 mounted in the treatment tank 3. It is not necessary positively to fasten the treating tank 3 to the fixed base 2 inasmuch as the weight of the tank and its contained load is sufficient in itself to seal the joint between the tank and base against the pressure of the treating liquid ordinarily used, particularly in combination with a pneumatic gasket 30 hereinafter fully described. Referring particularly to Figures 5 and 6, it will be noted what are the shapes of the gasket 33, both when the treatment tank 3 is mounted upon the fixed working base 2 and when no treatment tank is mounted on said base 2. The gasket 30 serves as a resilient top for the fixed base 2 upon which the treatment tank 3 is supported, the outer perimeter of the gasket 30 actually being positioned upon angles 59 which are secured to the outer surface of a tank-like member 6!. It is not necessary to fasten the cover 3 to the treatment tank 3 but, if it is desirable so to do, I provide angles 54 secured to the outer face of the treatment tank 3 adjacent the top thereof and the cover 3 with bolt holes 55, Figures 2 and 4, by means of which the securing of the cover 3 may be effected. The working" of the improved processes described and claimed in my pending application, Serial No. 724,113, do not necessarily require the use of any cover for the treatment tank 3, so that the cover 3' may be dispensed with, if desired, but its use is of advantage in preventing entrance of contaminating material into the treatment tank 3.

In the use of the improved apparatus for work-- ing the'improved processes shown and described in my pending application, Serial No. 724,113, the treatment tank 3 is designed to be transported from one fixed base 2 to another fixed base between successive liquid-treating operations upon the packages contained in the tank 3. However, in the instant application I shall show and describe the tank 3 in combination with only one of the fixed bases 2, inasmuch as the structure of all said bases 2 isidentical, and the same structure of treating tank 3 is utilized upon all said bases 2.

I illustrate the use of the invention by the treatment of rayon cakes 6, Figures 2, 4, 7, and 10. The treating liquid, water, for instance, is circulated through the tank 3, and hence through the rayon cakes 6, by any means, such as a centrifugal pump 8, Figure 1, which is reversed at desired intervals either by hand or by timed automatically-operated means which are shown and described in said pending application, Serial No. 724,113, but which form no part of the instant application and hence are not shown. Several tiers of vertically-aligned rayon cakes 6 are mounted in the treatment tank 3, and treated simultaneously, as shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8. l

' The cakes 6 are mounted on truncated conical inserts l0, Figure 13, for the liquid treatment, which inserts I0 conform to the inner face of the cakes 3. These inserts ID are formed with elongated windows through which the pulsation of the cakes 6 is effected under the action of the treating liquid passed through the cake bodies and periodically reversed in direction of liquid flow. The open windows of the inserts ID are large enough in area to permit materially large portions of the cake packages to pulsate therethrough under the action of the treating liquid. Thus these inserts H] are of skeleton formation and do not interpose material obstruction to the passage of the treating liquid therethrough. Such skeleton construction assists in speeding up the treating operations.

Thelowermost cake 6 in any vertical tier of cakes is mounted in the treatment tank 3 upon an annular upwardly-extended flange 3| of an annular hard rubber base member 3|, and between each adjacent two cakes 6 of any tier is provided anannular hard rubber abutment or spacing member 32 having upper and lower annular flanges 32' with which ends of cakes 3 contact, in the form of apparatus shown. The top of the topmost cake 6 of a tier is surmounted by a hard rubber cap 33 closed at the top and having a downwardly-extended flange 33 which the top end of the topmost cake ,6 contacts. The distance between the body portions of adjacent spacers 32, or between such a spacer and. base 3|, or be-- tween such a spacer 32 and cap 33, is defined by the height of the cake insert or support It]. Several such vertical tiers of cakes are mounted in the treating tank 3, eight such tiers, in the form of apparatus shown, four tiers longitudinally of the tank 3, and two tiers transversely thereof,

together, and also locked tightly in a vertical direction by a spider 36, Figure 8, whose four arms 31 are formed into pads whichare fastened down upon the tops ofthe four cake caps 33 by means of .a nut 40 which engages the top of a rod 34, Figure 7, passing through the body of the spider 36, and whose bottom end is engaged with a boss 35, Figure 10, extended upwardly from the base 3 of the treatment tank 3. There are two of the spiders 38 and associated mechanisms.

The flanges of the hard rubber bases 3|, spacers 32, and caps 33 extend laterally beyond the outer face of the rayon cakes 6 and are sub:- stantially equal in diameter to one-half the inside width of the treatment tank 3, as will appear from Figures 4, 7, and 8. Actually, these flanges are slightly less in diameter than onehalf the width of the treatment tank 3, approximately one-eighth A,) inch less in diameter, so as to permit the convenient assembling of the cakes 6 in the treatment tank 3, but the flanges are so nearly in diameter one-half the width of the treatment tank 3 that the mere assembling of the cakes 3 and bases 3|, spacers 32, and caps 33 in the treatment tank 3 serves automatically to provide for satisfactorily perfect alignment of the cakes 3 in each tier. Within similar limitation, as shown in Figures 2, 7, and 8, the inside length of the treatment tank 3 is four times the diameter of the flanges 3|, 32, and 33. As clearly seen in Figure 10, the interiors of vertically-aligned cakes 6 are in communication through the openings of the annular spacers 32 I so that all the cakes in any one vertical tier form a single interior chamber 4|. The irregularlyshaped chamber exteriorly of the cakes 6, but within the treatment tank 3, is indicated by the number 42.

It is evident that, if means are provided for circulating treating liquid within the treatment tank 3 in such manner as to cause the liquid when passing through the tank 3 to flow from the chambers 4| to the chamber 42, or vice versa, such liquid will pass through and treat the threads comprising the bodies of the cakes 6. A part of the instant invention contemplates means for distributing treating liquid under pressure to the chamber 32, or to the plurality of vertical chambers 4|, and receiving liquid from said chambers, these distributing and receiving means being adapted to accommodate a flow of treating liquid in either direction through the bodies of the cakes 6 and between chamber 42 and the chambers 4|. The treating liquid, in thus passing in both directions alternately through the bodies of the cakes 6, effects a pulsating upon the window openings of the inserts ll] of the cake bodies and their constituent threads so as to loosen up the threads beingtreated and thus to permit the different portions of each cake body to alter their relative positions according to their respective tendencies and without strain, all as set-forth in the improved processes described and claimed in my pending application, Serial No. 724,113.

The base 3 of the treatment tank 3 is formed with a .series of openings through which pass and in which are secured flanged hard rubber bushings 44 whose upper ends are threaded into the hard rubber bases 3| and thus fasten the latter to the base 3 The openings 43 in the bushings 44 respectively communicate with the chambers 4| formed within the interiors of the vertical tiers of cakes 6 and their associated spacers 32. The base 3 of the treatment tank 3 is also formed with a second series of openings 45 therethrough which communicate with the chamber 42 in the tank 3, which chamber 42 is exteriorly of the cakes 6. The circulating treating fluid passes into and out of the tank 3 through the openings 43 and 45, alternately in both directions. In the form of apparatus shown, there are eight openings 43, one for each vertical tier of cakes 6, and there is also a large number of openings 45, so that means are provided for quickly and thoroughly draining the treatment tank 3 of a treating liquid after a treating operation has been completed.

In the working floor I, Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, I form a pit 46 lined with a pan-shaped metal wall 6| whose base 6 I is formed with two longitudinal respectively staggered series of openings I00 and IIII, Figure 9. In a smaller and adjacently lower pit 46 are mounted longitudinal vertical channels I02 and an end channel I03 secured by their upper flanges to the base 6| exteriorly' of the openings I60 and HM, which channels I02 and I03 define an area which includes two side chambers 53 and 62, respectively, which are completely separated by a vertical longitudinal partition comprised of spaced plates I04. The chambers 53 and 62 communicate with the chamber of the pan 6I through the openings I00 and IOI, respectively. The channels I02 which define the chambers 53 and 62 are secured by means of bolts I09 to a base plate I08, Figure 4, gaskets I01 being disposed between the channels I02 and partitions I04, and said base plate I08. To the inside faces of the sides of the pan 6| I secure alternate downwardly and inwardly inclined converging pairs of transverse plates 41 and 48, respectively, of which the adjacent pairs are separated by vertical transverse partitions 26, Figures 2 and 3, thus forming two alternating series of transverse conduits which respectively communicate at their upper ends with the ports 43 and 45, thus affording communication between one series of said transverse conduits and the chambers 4! within the plurality of vertical tiers of cakes 6, and between the other series of said transverse conduits and the chamber 42 in the treatment tank 3 exteriorly of the cake 6. From Figures 4, 5, and 9, it will be clearly noted that the plates 41 and 48 are so respectively inclined that the opening between the bottoms of. a pair 7 of plates 41. registers with an opening I00 leadmg into the side chamber 53, and that an opening between the bottoms of a pair of plates 48 registers with an opening IOI leading into the opposite side chamber 62. The side chamber 53 communicates at its open end with an exterior pipe 58, and the opposite chamber 62 communicates at its open end with an exterior pipe 63, Figures 2, 3, and '1. These pipes 58 and 63 form the inlet and outlet, respectively, or vice versa, into and from the fixed base 2 for the treating liquid which is circulated through the treatment tank 3. As clearly shown in Figure 1, the pipe 58 communicates with a pipe 64 through the medium of a T 64, the pipe 64 being controlled by a cock 65 and communicating with a source of treating liquid supply (not shown). This pipe 64 is utilized, as desired, to supply treating liquid to or withdraw same from the system when the treating apparatus is in operation.

All parts of the apparatus subject to corrosion, or capable of contaminating the treating liquid and/or the rayon packages, are covered with non-corrosive'mat'erial, or may be made of non corrosive material. These protective means include the rubber covering 21 for the plates 41 and 48 and the partitions 26, Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5; the rubber gasket 30 for the top of the base 2, which gasket serves also as a resilient base for the treatment tank 3; the rubber covering 36 for the rods 34 and the bosses 35, Figure 10; the rubber covering 39 for the spiders 36 and clamping pads 31, Figure 10; the rubber covering 50 for the exterior of the treatment tank 3, Figures 2, 4, and 10; the rubber covering 49 for the interior of the treatment tank 3; the gasket 5I between the top of the treatment tank 3 and its cover 3, Figures 1, 2, and 4, this gasket 5I serving also as a resilient base for the cover 3' and actually resting upon an angle 54 secured exteriorly of the tank 3 and flush with the top of the latter, this angle 54 being covered by the rubber covering 58 which protects the body of the tank 3; the rubber covering 56 for the casing cover 3, Figures 1, 2,'and 4; the rubber covering 51 for drain channels 52 and outside angles 59, Figures 2 and 3; the gaskets I01 beneath the partitions I04 and the channels I02, Figure 5; the rubber covering IIO for the interior of the bottom chambers 53 and 62; the rubber covering H0 for the base plate I08, Figures 4 and 5. In lieu of using rubber or similar protective material for coatings and coverings, resistant metal for the inserts I6 and many other parts of my improvedapparatus may be utilized.

When it is desired to initially fill the system with the treating liquid preliminarily to the treating of the cakes 6, which have previously been properly assembled in the treating tank 3, the cock 65, Figure l, is closed and the cock 61 in a pipeline 66 is opened, which pipe line 66 also communicates with the source of treating liquid supply. The pipe 66 communicates with a pipe 16 leading to the discharge outlet of a centrifugal pump 8, with the'inlet of which pump a pipe 69 communicates, the other end of the pipe 69 communicating with the chamber of a four-way valve 68, access to which four-way valve is also afforded by pipes 63, 14, and 64. The pipe 63' communicates with the conduit 63 which opens into the side chamber 62, and the pipe 64 communicates with the conduit 58 which opens into the side chamber 53. The pipe 14 communicates with a filter 12 for removing impurities and which is provided with gauges 12' to indicate the pressure of the system and, also, the condition of the filter whereby the treating liquid can be periodically standardized. The filter 12 also communicates with a pipe 1| communicating with and connected by a T 66' to the pipes 66 and 10. The cook 13 is provided in the pipe 1| and serves to throttle, as desired, the treating liquid being circulated through the system. A drain pipe 15 communicates with the pipe 69 and is provided with a cock 15'.

All of the pipes and conduits just described, as also, the treating tank 3, are filled with treating liquid whenthe cocks 61 and 13 are opened, and the cock 65 is closed, the filling being effected by the pressure head. This filling with the treating liquid is continued until the liquid overflows, at the level I3, Figures 2 and 4, into the chamber I3 whence the overflow passes by the downpipe I4 to a catch basin formed by channels 52 located in the main floor I adjacently exteriorly of the pit 46, whence the overflow is discharged through a drain I05.

As soon as the overflow or liquid from the level 13 indicates that the, system is full, the cock 6'! is closed, and the cock 13 set at the desired throttling position. Assuming that the direction of liquid circulation which is desired through the four-way valve 68 is that indicated by the dottedline arrows shown in Figure 1, the valve 68 is set to effect this direction of circulation and the centrifugal pump 8 is then started. The treating liquid is thus drawn from the chamber 42 of the treatment tank 3 through the ports 45, the passages defined by the plates 48, openings NH, and side chamber 62, to the pipe 63 whence it passes by pipe 63'through the four-way valve 68 to the pipe 69, thence through the pump 8, pipe 10, T 66, pipe filter '72, pipe 14, fourway Valve 58, T 64', conduit 58, side chamber 53., openings I00, passages defined by plates 47, and ports 43 into the chambers 4|, whence it completes the cycle by passing through the bodies of. the rayon cakes 6 to the exterior chamber 42, and thence to the ports 45. In passing from the chambers 4| inside the cakes 6 to the chamber 42 outside of the cakes, the circulating liquid treats the cakes in the desired manner.

If the desired direction of liquid circulation had been opposite to that which has just been described in detail, the treating liquid would have been drawn from the cake chambers 4| of the treatment tank 3 through the ports 43, thence through the passages defined by the plates 41, then through the openings I00, side chamber 53, conduit 58, T 64' and into the four-way valve 68 (the plug or core of the latter being turned ninety degrees from the, position shown in Figure 1 to induce directions of flow therethroughin directions differing, from those shown by the dotted arrows, Figure 1), pipe 69, pump 8, pipe 70, pipe 1|, filter 72, pipe 14, fourway valve 68, pipe 63', side chamber 62, openings |il|, passages defined by the plates 48, ports 45, chamber .42, through the'bodies of the cakes '6 from without inwardly into the interior cake chambers 4|, and thence to the ports 43.

, Periodically, and repeatedly, the direction of liquid fiow'through the system is reversed either by hand or by automatic mechanism, one form of which automatic mechanism isjshown and described in said pending; application, Serial No.

"724,113, from which the subject matter of the depth of the cake 6 so that the latter can be 1 mounted between and in contact with adjacent flanges 32 of adjacent spacers 32, and the insert ||l mounted between the body portions of adjacent spacers 32. In order to protect those portions of the metal insert I!) which are subject to corrosion by the treating liquid or by the alkali and acids contained in and on the thread of the cakes 6, I cover substantially the full length of the bars H2 with split rubber sheaths H3. I show four of the bars H2 spaced ninety (90) degrees apart, and thus the insert openings between adjacent bars H2 are of substantial size and form in effect open longitudinal windows windows of large enough size are provided to'permit substantial-sized cake therethrough.

When the treating liquid is passed from the chamber 4| within the interior of a cake 6 through the wall of the cake and to that chamber 42 which is exterior of the cake 6 but is within the treating tank 3, the cake- 6 substantially maintains its initial collected shape, or tends to reestablish itself in that shape, due to the character of the spinning thereof and the manner of winding the several strands of which the cake is comprised. Such shape of the cake 6 is shown in Figure 11. However, whenthe treating liquid is passed from without the cake and through the body thereof into the interior chamber 4|, the cake is deformed substantially as shown by the convex inner face portions H4, Figure 12, and the concave outer face portions H5, or tends to be so deformed, each deformed face portion |4--| I5 extending substantially from a projection of the cake radius which passes through one of the bars H2 to the. projection ofthe cake radius passing through the next adjacent bar H2. The ends of a deformed cake portion are adjusted somewhat outwardly, as clearly shown in Figure 12, while the intermediate part thereof is moved inwardly by the action of the treating liquid passed inwardly ofthe cake. The deformed faces H4 and H5 are wavy or irregulanas sug-. gested by thenumbers I I6, Figure. 12. 7

After the rayon packages have been completely processed by the use of the apparatus herein dis-- closed, they can be dried in the treatment tank 3 by circulating air therethroughand while still mounted upon the inserts II]. .It is not. necessary to incur the additional expense of transferring the packages to a special extractor or dryer, for the purpose of drying .the same preliminarily to the, disposal thereoffor ultimate use and sale, .or to the rewinding thereof into other package forms for such disposal. Furthermore, the danger of injuring the packages by rewinding and by and during the transfer to an extractor or dryer is portions to pulsate thus eliminated. One drying of the processed package, treated by the various purifying liquids by the improved method of my application, Serial No. 724,113, and in the apparatus of the instant application, is suflicient to result in even shrinkage of the thread, it not being necessary to again or repeatedly rewet the package and alternately dry the same to obtain satisfactorily uniform shrinkage conditions.

The pulsating of the package which is occasioned by my improved apparatus, and the consequent porosityof the package, give all portions of the latter full opportunity to contract when drying, in accordance with their several tendencies, without occasioning any strain in any portion of the package. By pulsating I means the inwardly and outwardly to and fro movements made by the package and the constituent parts thereof, under the action of the treating liquid.

The treating liquid which I provide adjacent both faces of the package tends to make the pack 6 forth similar to the movements of skein packages when the latter are treated with liquids in the manner well-known to those skilled in the art. By float is meant a movement of the package in the treating liquid induced and maintained by the pressure and directions of movement of the treating liquid, limited only by the nature of the'package strands.

Although it is not necessary so to work my improved apparatus for processing rayon packages, I prefer to cause the last direction of flow of the treating liquid to be from without the packages inwardly, so that the last shape and condition of the package, before drying the latter, is a deformed and highly slack one, and thus the drying may be effected under the most advantageous circumstances for obtaining uniform contraction, during drying, of all parts of the package. 7

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for the liquid-treatment of fine filamentous thread comprising a fixed working base, a treatment tank having ports, supported by the base and adapted for the support and housing of a plurality of thread packages, 2, liquid-distributing manifold mounted in the base and comprised of two series of alternate differentially inclined pairs of converging plates, wall members between adjacent pairs of plates forming two series of alternate chambers, some of the ports of the treatment tank communicating with one series of manifold chambers and the other ports of the treatment tank communicating with the other series of manifold chambers, said base being formed with ports opening into said two series of manifold chambers.

- 2. Apparatus for the liquid-treatment of fine filamentous thread comprising a fixed working base, a treatment tank having ports,.supported by the base and adapted for the support and housing of a plurality of thread packages, a liquid-distributing manifold formed in the base of a series of converging pairs of plates and an alternate series of diiferentially inclined converging pairs of plates andwall members between adjacent pairs of plates forming two series of alternate chambers, some of the ports of the treatment tank communicating with one series of manifold chambers and the other ports of the treatment tank communicating with the other series'of manifold chambers, base walls forming a chamber below said plates, a partition wall subdividing said last-mentioned chamber into two conduits communicating respectively with the chambers of the two series of alternate chambers, and ports in said base walls opening into said conduits.

3. Apparatus for the liquid-treatment of fine filamentous thread comprising a fixed working base, a treatment tank having tubular means for interiorlysup'porting a plurality of tiers of axially-aligned tubular thread packages, said tank being peripherally supported by the base and having ports opening from the chambers of the supporting means for the respective package tiers into the base, means forming two alternate series of chambers in one part of the base, one series of said chambers communicating with said ports, other ports in the tank opening therefrom exteriorly of the chambers of said package-supporting means, said alternate series of chambers communicating with the last-mentioned ports, a pair of compartments in another part of the base, base wall ports communicating respectively with said compartments, one series of said chambers opening into one compartment, and the other series of said chambers opening into the other compartment.

4. A fluid distributing manifold in apparatus for the liquid-treatment of fine filamentous thread comprising walls forming a housing, a pair of wall ports adjacent the bottom of the housing, a housing partition subdividing the lower part of the housing chamber into two compartments communicating respectively with said bottom wall ports, downwardly-converging pairs of plates in the upper part of the housing chamber,partition members between adjacent pairs of plates, forming separate small chambers, said partition members also forming a plurality of ports adjacent the top of the housing, said small chambers communicating alternately with said compartments at the bottom, respectively, each of said chambers also communicating with some of said top ports.

- CHARLES A. HUTTINGER. 

